Pages

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

The Palace of Wonders – Adelaide Arcade Waxworks

The Palace of Wonders – Adelaide Arcade Waxworks

Discovering the location and any information about the waxworks
that were once housed inside the Adelaide Arcade have been a labour of love for
me over the past few years. I first discovered a little information about the waxworks
when researching the death of Sydney Byron Kennedy, and the subsequent
aftermath that followed.

The Kennedy’s lived
in the upstairs section of shop 11 (now The Manhattan Drycleaners) and worked
from a shop on the ground floor, showcasing their style of psychic offerings
and phrenology. The Kennedy’s were not the perfect couple, and Michael soon
absconded to Tasmania, leaving Bridget Kennedy distraught.
Bridget sent a private detective to retrieve her son, who returned
without him, but with the location of where to find him. Only a month later,
young Sydney would be found dead inside the living room of the Arcade
residence, and seven months later in August 1902, Bridget Kennedy, would also
be found dead in the Adelaide Parklands (you can read about the case in greater
detail here: http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/adelaide-arcade-part-four-madame-kennedy.html)

The first advertisements for the Arcade Waxworks (sometimes referred
to in the newspapers as "Kennedy’s Waxworks”) appear in local newspapers in
December 1901. In The City of Adelaide: A
Thematic History, (McDougall and Vines 2006), on page 104, it states that
the waxworks were positioned in the basement.

This would make sense, as the Kennedy’s
lived on the top floor and held their psychic productions on the ground floor, so
most likely utilised the basement, for other purposes. It being cooler, and out
of site from onlookers who didn’t want to pay, made it the prime location for
it to be housed.

After his scandalous affair and the death of his wife and
child, Michael Kennedy returned to the Arcade and ran the waxworks, which had
become a major attraction in the city.

In a weird coincidence of the macabre, the Adelaide Wax
Works, inside the Adelaide Arcade, in 1904 featured a wax effigy of convicted
murderer Thomas Horton. Thomas Horton killed his wife, Frances Horton at the
Rundle Street (Mall) end of the Adelaide Arcade on February 27th,
1904.
Thomas was hung for his crime in the Adelaide Gaol on May 12th,
1904, when justice was much swifter, and brutal than today’s standards.[1]

Professor Michael Kennedy ran the Arcade Waxworks until his
death in 1908. The waxworks were then taken over by a lady, also a psychic,
named Madame Phyllis.

Madame Phyllis had 75 wax figures displayed in her version
of the waxworks, so one would think, that possibly, the collection was now
housed on the ground floor and in the basement.
When a guest would arrive at the waxworks, a tour guide would show the guest
around the displays and give a detailed explanation of the real person’s life,
and why they had been chosen by Madame Phyllis to be put on display.
Notable waxworks from this period included Queen Victoria, Sir Hector McDonald,
Ned Kelly and his sister Kate.

After Madame Phyllis, the next owner appears to be Mrs
Brown. In a 1935 article printed in the local News, retiring caretaker of 50
years (who took over after the death of Francis Cluney), Mr Jonah Benjamin,
stated of Mrs Brown:

"She was a queer old soul, some people didn't
like her. She was hardy and independent, but she had a good heart and many a
time I have seen her walk out of her works and give some poor fellow a couple
of shillings to go on with."[2]

I believe the next owner, Mr A. Netter, either bought the
waxworks or leased it from Mrs Brown in 1941, but at this stage in my research,
this is hard to confirm.
In 1942, a visiting group of soldiers to the Adelaide Arcade Waxworks, stole a full-sized
effigy of Adolf Hitler.[3]

In 1953, The waxworks were removed from the arcade, but they
didn’t go without a fight! As Mr Yeend, a carpenter, was removing the lifelike
figures, one fell forward and pinned him to the floor, in the wax effigies hand
was a sharp blade, which landed on Mr Yeend’s throat – as it turned out, the
effigy was one of a murderer. Mr Yeend survived, with an incredible story to
tell his grandchildren![4]

Believe it or not, this is probably one the local, former Adelaide
attractions I am most often asked about by news reporters, as there is so
little information available about it in local history archives.

I am keen to continue researching this fascinating
attraction in the Adelaide Arcade, and would love to know what became of the
waxwork effigies, and if any still survive. If you have any information about
the former waxworks, or a photo, please get in touch!

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used here on this site are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used on this website are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

Top Paranormal

PANDORA

On the 7-1-2013, The Haunts of Adelaide was added to The National Library of Australia's "Pandora" archive.http://pandora.nla.gov.au/